Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics					Vitus
How important is it to fit in?  What would you sacrifice to be normal?  These are the questions a young musical genius asks himself when faced with the expectations and pressures of everyday life.  In Vitus (pronounced VEE-TUS), Swiss director Fredi Murer introduces us to a boy who finds a way to be “normal” in spite of being a piano prodigy who also happens to have a genius level IQ.  Murer is definitely not the first director to tell us the tale of a piano prodigy with a penchance for nonconformity.  Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1999 film, The Legend of 1900, also delves into the world of a troubled musical genius (played by Tim Roth).  Because the characters of Vitus and 1900 both share the same type of sarcastic wit and defiant personality, it is impossible not to compare these two films that are so much alike, yet so very different.  Where the adult 1900 took us on a journey of isolation and unprecedented musical genius, Vitus’ story focuses on the child genius who desperately tries to fit in a world that is incapable of understanding his extraordinary talents.  Another difference between the two movies is how 1900 never faced parental pressures because he was orphaned twice as a child, and how Vitus’ main struggle is with the various parental and societal expectations that make him question the importance of his talent.
At the film’s open, we are introduced to six year-old Vitus (Fabrizio Borsani) who is anything but normal.  When he isn’t busy looking up big words in the dictionary to insult his teachers, he tries to fly like a bat on a hang-glider and parties with his 12 year-old babysitter Isabel (Kristina Lykowa).  But, a large vocabulary isn’t the only thing setting Vitus apart from all the other kids…he’s also a piano prodigy.				Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Like most prodigies, Vitus is bored.  He is bored with the establishment of the school system, bored with the constraints of written music, and bored by people who aren’t on the same page as him.  But, who can blame him?  His parents treat him like a party favor, his school teachers view his intelligence as a personal threat, and other kids constantly pick on him for being different.  It’s no wonder why the little genius thumbs his nose at piano teachers and threatens to stay in his room until he’s an adult.  By the time Vitus is 12 (then played by real life piano prodigy Teo Gheorghiu), he is basically an adult trapped in a child’s body.  Avoidance of his over-protective mother (Julika Jenkins) and his financially preoccupied father (Urs Jucker), force Vitus to start taking refuge with his grandfather (Bruna Gantz), the only person capable of allowing Vitus to just be himself.  Only after a fateful accident befalls young Vitus, do we start to wonder just how far this young genius will go to fit in.  Overall, the film is charming and engaging – albeit a little sappy at times.  Even though I was intrigued by Murer’s audio design during Vitus’ bike riding scene, I was a little disappointed with his narrative continuity.  One minute 6 year-old Vitus is begging his mother to buy him a piano, and the next minute we see a 12 year-old Vitus practicing on an upright piano in his home without any explanation as to what happened to get us from Vitus’ begging to mom’s buying.
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics		Like I said earlier, it is going to be impossible for me to review Vitus without comparing it to 1900; and, the biggest contrast between the two films is the focus, or lack thereof, on the music.  Obviously, both filmmakers attempt to show the power of music.  However, the original score of Tornatore’s 1900 better reflects the creative genius than the uninspired score of Murer’s Vitus.
Because The Legend of 1900 has an original award-winning score composed by Ennio Morricone, its music is as unique as the character creating it onscreen.  Yet, by only adhering to standard classical compositions in Vitus, Murer contradicts the very essence of his prodigy’s unique talent.  None of the music played by Vitus in the movie is original to his character.  Another difference between the two pianists is the attitude they have towards their talent.  Where 1900 shunned social acceptance because he was incapable of joining a world of mediocrity, Vitus actively rejects those who shun him.  At times, it almost seems as if he is nothing more than a know-it-all smartass who insults his intellectual inferiors as a way of getting even with them.  Ultimately, it is this very desire for normalcy that really overshadows Vitus’ unique talents because it turns him into a stereotypical movie child who is smarter than his adult counterparts.  Like Max once said about his buddy 1900, “If you just want to feel something more solid beneath your feet…you no longer hear the music of the gods around you.”  Sadly, Vitus doesn’t have anyone to teach him that lesson.  All he can do is play society’s stupid little games, mask his differences the best he can, and hope no one blows his cover.  But, what Murer fails to realize is that his character’s lack of originality only conveys the message that Vitus is simply a child who is too smart for his own good.
With Vitus, Murer has indeed created a charming story about the trials and tribulations faced by this young musical genius.  Ironically, the importance of originality isn’t the only lesson Murer can learn from Tornatore who reminds us that “You’re never really done for as long as you’ve got a good story and someone to tell it to.”  ©  Kelly Bartley 2007			Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Running Time:	2 hours 3 minutes
Release Date:	July 27, 2007 (limited)
MPAA Rating:	PG (mild thematic elements, language)
Distributor:	Sony Pictures Classics
Language:	Swiss-German (English subtitles)